Voidhaxx Online
by SarpaSalpa
Summary: What does a great mage need in a familiar? A convenient resource? A fierce guardian? A loyal friend? — What does a troubled young zero need to become a great person? Power? Pride? Validation? — Void only knows that some answers can never be so simple. In a world where numbers and effort are everything, perhaps one Louise the Zero can discover just what it is that she truly needs.
1. Prologue

A.N. Less a prologue, more a foreword.

* * *

To describe the exact nature of The Void would be difficult. It is inconsistent; a formless, chaotic nothingness that adheres to no rules, not even its own. Perhaps it may best be said that The Void is the opposite of nature itself.

Nature _is_. The Void _is not_.

Yes, you could say that The Void is «non-existence» itself. What is it? What does it do? Why does it do this? None of those apply to The Void, because the void is nothing; which is why, when at times The Void encroaches upon reality, producing illogical and unpredictable effects, it is pointless to ask the reason why, because there is no reason. There is no rule that can tell The Void _not_ to do as it does because The Void does not _care_ what it shouldn't do.

And so it was that one day, for no reason at all, something just «broke». Not unusual — nature is in fact full of such holes — but this particular «break» was significant in that it was the first «break» ever to open in the grasp of human hands.

On that day, by cause of no intent or fate or even reason, a human touched The Void, and «broke».

Specifically, it was his magic that broke. Though his innate ability to channel inner, arcane power remained, his affinities were blank and empty. In their place, was «nothing»; a pocket of «unreality» trapped like a bubble of air in the ocean. The mage could no longer channel his natural power, but he gained something greater in its place.

In place of his power, a trump remained.

Cause without effect, wrapped in a thin layer of «reality».

The mage experimented. He forced his will not outward, but inward, manipulating that border between «real» and «unreal» within him; changing «rules», setting «parameters», giving «direction»...

The mage realized that he had become something unreal. The Void obeyed no laws but those he assigned it. It would act, unfettered by any rule of nature or logic, performing without fail for as long as he could channel it. The mage possessed no limits but the extent of his will and his ability to instruct The Void.

And so a legend was born.

* * *

One of the Founder's most well-known spells was the Familiar Summoning Spell. Normally performed during the Springtime Summoning Ritual, the summoning of a familiar was a rite of passage for a mage and one of Brimir's most intricate spellworks.

The Spell consisted of a fragment of Brimir's Void, anchored to reality in no specific time or place. When invoked, The Spell would briefly appraise the summoner and assemble a set of parameters with which it would select a suitable familiar. Normally, an animal or less commonly an autonomous construct of some sort would appear, though occasionally by whatever alien logic The Void dreamed up a more unusual object would be summoned, such as a plant or tool.

But The Spell's true purpose lay not within its service to the natural mages, but the unnatural ones; the inheritors of Brimir's Void, blessed with the «authority» to command a fraction of their ancestor's «power».

It was on one fateful day that one of those very people invoked The Spell, appealing to The Void with all the desperate passion her weary human heart could muster.

The Spell reacted immediately, once more calling on routines it had used... what, not a decade ago? That three void mages had called it in less than a decade was a good sign.

The preferences detailed in the invocation came first; «sacred», «beautiful», «strong»; all vague, relative qualities. A quick scan of the caster herself gave The Spell the rest of the parameters needed to operate, most importantly the class of familiar which the young void mage had been assigned. «Gandalfr», the familiar obligated a fraction of The Void's power for assisted handling, comprehension and maintenance of weaponry.

Its parameters set, The Spell spread out from the caster's location, tendrils of magical influence probing the lands in an expanding circle.

A few options presented themselves almost immediately. Servants in the Academy, commoners in nearby towns, at least one vampire of adequately benign disposition; human mages were the only options vetoed by the Founder.

Still, none of them quite matched the troubled young mage; not to The Spell's satisfaction. It needed to go wider. Further.

So further it went, beyond Halkegenia, beyond the Elven lands and the Shaitan's Gate which the Founder sought to reclaim. It was becoming ridiculous, nothing seemed to fit the troubled young noble's parameters.

The Spell reached further, not across this time but _away_; through the Shaitan's Gate, away from this «reality» and into another nearby. Through Shaitan's Gate, reaching it took no more stretch than reaching the eastern lands of Rub'al Khali.

Options here were certainly more... interesting. No magic on this plane, noticeably less animosity towards authori— or not...

Seconds had passed by now, the search taking much longer than usually expected of The Spell. Truly, this was a particularly troublesome summoner. Briefly, it considered settling for the ordinary boy it had most recently indexed...

Nah, wasn't worth the effort of inter-dimensional displacement. Besides, the boy appeared to be incapacitated at the moment.

Actually, upon closer inspection, something seemed odd about that. The boy was unmoving and unresponsive, yet a quick scan of his brain revealed activity as if he were up and about like any conscious human.

Now granted, The Spell was not a sentient entity, nor was The Void which it directed. However, it certainly was intelligent in that it possessed reasoning of a sort, as well as a drive to collect and process information.

And in an approximate sense of the word, The Spell was curious.

Investigation revealed a startling discovery; following a stream of conspicuous electromagnetic waves, what The Spell found at the other end was the boy, paradoxically existing on not one, but _two_ planes simultaneously.

It was something the likes of which The Spell had never seen before. A «reality», nested within another «reality». A sub-reality, of sorts. Certainly, there was the occasional instance of a particularly involved dream in which the dream world could be said to «exist» within the mind of the dreamer, but those tended to be unstable «realities» built on abstract laws at best.

What lay before The Spell was a «reality» in every sense of the word that mattered. It had a «nature» of its own; consistent laws and logic, supporting numerous fundamental reactions, collectively manifesting as macroscopic effects. Certainly, the rules were much simpler and stricter than most «realities», but they were a «nature» nonetheless.

In that macroscopic world, humans wandered about and interacted while simultaneously existing, in a state of inactivity, on the base plane upon which the world was built. Several native beings existed there as well, most simpler than animals but a few nearing a level comparable to sapience. More interestingly, on this nested plane humans seemed to possess a «magic» of sorts — arbitrary, direct interaction and manipulation of «nature» to achieve supernatural effects — a force notably absent from the base plane.

Interestingly, a major component of this world's magic seemed focused on weapons handling.

Dear Void, it was like the essence of «Gandalfr» itself had manifested as an entire «reality»!

And then, in a vague, approximate sense of the word, The Spell had an «idea».

It knew _exactly_ what «Louise» needed.

.

.

.

«Name not available. Please enter a different name.»

Wait what? Oh, dang, hold on...

.

.

.

It knew _exactly_ what «Louise-000» needed.

* * *

ZnT/SAO Crossover, Louise gets reverse-summoned to Aincrad.

A.N. So yeah, starting this with a wall of quasimagitechnobabble. Probably a bit convoluted and hard to follow, but basically what I wanted to lay out for the readers in this prologue/foreword is what exactly The Void is in this setting, why The Spell works the way it did, and how The Spell can Voidhaxx a virtual world.

Basically, what I wanted to declare about this setting is that **A)** from an absolutely fundamental perspective, the virtual world has all the qualities necessary to be defined as a reality with a nature in its own right; that as far as The Spell is concerned, SAO is a reality nested within another reality; and **B)** The Void and void magic are basically Deus ex Machina — no, _Nihilo ex Machina_ equipped with an in-universe interface. That said, I'm definitely going to limit their role in this story as much as I can to avoid exactly this.

Okay, well; this is my first honest attempt at writing. If you have questions, ask away but remember that the story proper has yet to come, and there's much you will have to wait and see. Pre-emptively I'll tell you now that **A)** the full reasoning behind The Spell's alien logic may not be very clear until the very end, or maybe even the sequel (yes, I've thought long-term enough for that) and **B)** Hiraga Saito will _not_ be a character of any consequence in this, or any of my future stories, or if he is he will at best be a Saito-In-Name-Only because I really do not care for that idiot of a flat plot enabler.

The real story should begin soon, look forward to it~


	2. Ch1 - Glitch

It was a beautiful spring day, in the week of Freyja of the month Ur. The sun was shining with nary a cloud in sight, yet it was not hot. A gentle breeze wafted across the courtyard, cool yet not chilling. The lawn was verdant and well-kept, grass blades bouncing back into place as trodding students passed, gathering in the Vestri court for the day's main event.

The Springtime Summoning Ceremony.

A rite of passage all young mages took, the summoning ritual was an important tradition for magic academies. The summoning of a familiar not only provided mages with an appropriate partner and companion, but also lent clues to where a mage's affinities lay. A wind mage may summon a bird, for example, while a fire mage would likely summon a carnivore or fire-aligned magical beast. Some affinities may be even more specific; one water mage may be more skilled in healing while another's talents lay in ice.

At the Tristain Academy of Magic, all second year students were required to summon a familiar on this important day in preparation for their magical studies. Every mage is different, after all; the nature of the summoned familiar would help determine the course of the mage's education.

This year, there was one student in particular whose summoning was greatly anticipated. One Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, youngest scion of the prestigious Duche de la Valliere. Known for their distinguished magical background and close ties with the crown, the Valliere family was one of the most powerful noble families in all of Tristain.

That was not what made this day so highly-anticipated, however.

Because, despite her prestigious and distinguished magistocratic background, Louise de la Valliere was a magical blunt. Her parents had invested every tutor, professor and great philosophical mind in the continent in her magecraft and yet not once in her 16 years had Louise managed to cast a single cantrip correctly.

Certainly, she had magic. When she waved her wand and channeled her will, things happened. That much, at least, no commoner could do. Yet try as she might, controlling her gift seemed to be always just beyond the noble girl's reach.

Transmuting, silencing, lighting candles or calling breezes; no matter what she tried, the result was always one and the same. Light, noise, force. Explosions, every time. Good for messing up a room or knocking over furniture; poor for pretty much anything else.

The infamous Zero of the Valliere family, a stain on her family's honorable record. Many were looking forward to seeing what kind of familiar the failure would summon. Many believed she would fail to summon anything at all. Every spell she cast would end in explosions; why should Summon Servant be any different?

Should that happen, the consequences were clear. A mage could not continue their education without a familiar. If she failed here, there was no future for Louise in magic. This was her last chance to prove herself worthy of her name.

She had prepared for this moment. Spent countless nights studying, reading and re-reading the material. She had practiced the words, the tones, the lilts. She had memorized the mechanisms, the connotations, the history of the ritual. She had prayed to the founder, practiced her chanting, even regulated her sleep schedule so that nothing, not even exhaustion, could ruin this day.

Yet, as the last of her classmates completed the ritual and at last she was called to perform the ceremony, she felt anything but prepared. Her body felt heavy, her gut twisted. Shudders ran through her body, sweat beaded her forehead. In her head, she repeated a mantra — 'you are a noble; you are a Valliere; you are strong; you are noble; you are not a failure;' — yet she felt not hope nor impending vindication. She felt dread, finality, like a prisoner facing the guillotine. There were no second chances. This was it.

Composing herself, beating down the trembling and swallowing the fear, she raised her wand and recited the spell.

_I beg of you,_  
_My servant that exists somewhere in this universe,_  
_My sacred, beautiful, and strong familiar spirit,_  
_I desire and plead from the bottom of my heart,_  
_Heed my call, and answer to my guidance!_

There was light. A flash. The world went white.

* * *

.

«Chapter 1 — Glitch»

«Aincrad 1st Floor, May 2023»

.

* * *

Louise had screwed up on occasion before. Okay, Louise had screwed up on _every_ occasion before. But the results had a least been consistent, and the Familiar Summoning Ceremony was fairly straightforward. Recite the incantation, channel the will, receive familiar from Founder's guidance.

There had been light. And noise. And a force of sorts. But when Louise finally opened her eyes and lowered her arms, what met her sight was not the aftermath of another explosion.

Actually, Louise had never opened her eyes or lowered her arms. One moment, she had been standing in the Vestri court yard, her wand raised and her peers watching as she cast Summon Servant. Then there was light, and... something. And then she was here, arms at her sides and eyes wide open. She hadn't even registered the transition; at that moment, she had just suddenly noticed that she was here.

Speaking of which,

Where is «here»?

Before her lay a massive plaza, ringed by a circular colonnade that framed an enormous avenue on the far side of the space. At the centre stood a large clock tower, oddly displaying what appeared to be a 12-hour clock instead of the standard 8-hour clock.

Behind her, Louise could see that she was standing before some kind of stone monument marked with unfamiliar runes. Though the script resembled nothing she'd ever known, if she stared long enough at them should felt as though she could almost... no, that was absurd.

What was more interesting was the truly impressive dark metallic basilica that the monument was situated in front of. Not quite as impressive as the Romalian Cathedral, of course, but it reminded Louise of certain paintings she had seen of Ancient Hellenian temples. Briefly, she wondered if she actually was somewhere in Hellenia...

No, before that...

How'd she even get here in the first place?

The last thing Louise could remember was the Familiar Summoning Ceremony. Could this be a result of her spell? She couldn't quite bring herself to believe that. After all, the Familiar Summoning Ceremony was a holy rite created by the Founder himself! There's no way a spell of His making could screw up like this. And even if she had failed it, Louise's failed spells only ever exploded on her. The idea of a.. a... _reverse-summoning_ was simply absurd!

Had she suffered a lapse in memory? How long then? How long had it been since the Summoning Ritual? Where was she, why was she here? And actually, what had happened after the ritual? Did she summon a familiar? Was she expelled? Was... was she disowned?

Louise tried her best not to let dark thoughts take hold even as she took notice of her apparel. A simple tunic. A plain skirt. A leather chest guard, of all things. Certainly not the dress of a noble.

'Calm down,' she muttered, 'there's a reason for this, I'm sure.'

Looking away from herself, her eyes began searching the plaza for something — anything — to focus on. Something to distract herself, or illuminate her situation.

Her eyes caught the form of a person passing through the plaza.

'Alright, to start with I'll have that commoner tell me where I am,' she thought to herself, nodding as she affirmed her first course of action.

"You there!" She called out. "I demand to—"

Her words caught in her throat though as something else registered in her vision.

She wasn't quite sure what it was. It appeared to be some sort of crystal, clear and green and _floating_ over his head. Something about it felt very unnatural to Louise. It was obviously 3-dimensional, yet somehow felt... _not really there_.

"Pardon?"

She snapped out of her stupor by the sound of a voice calling back to her. The pedestrian seemed to have noticed Louise, not quite sure if she was calling out to them.

"Uh, er sorry!" Louise recovered, tearing her eyes from the crystal. "Never mind!"

The man didn't really seem to understand, but he shrugged and continued on his way. An ethereal green bar seemed to float at his shoulder as well, its meaning beyond Louise.

"... where am I?" she wondered aloud, staring up at the sky in a daze.

The stone ceiling sky.

* * *

Wandering through the streets had told Louise a few things about her current situation, none of it enlightening.

First, the man she had seen in the plaza was not the only person bearing that otherworldly crystal and bar. All around the streets, vendors sat displaying their wares, seemingly oblivious to the yellow crystals fixed above their heads. Occasional passersby could be spotted bearing green crystals and bars like those of the first man she had encountered. In the alleys, she would even spy the occasional rat darting about, adorned with conspicuous pink crystals.

Louise briefly wondered if _every_ living thing in the city bore a crystal, maybe even herself. Though, she had no way to confirm this theory. She could not see reflections in the windows, for some reason, and she had failed to find a mirror either.

Her failure to locate a vendor selling a mirror brought another fact to Louise's attention, that being the merchandise. While there was certainly plenty of merchants peddling fruits and produce, or jewelry and furniture, and other things to be expected in a city marketplace, Louise couldn't help but notice the especially notable number of vendors selling armour and weapons.

And what a selection there was! Though Louise was no expert in commoner arms, even she could see that the sheer variety of weaponry available here was beyond anything she'd expect to see in any Tristainian weapons shop.

As for the city itself, it struck Louise as oddly... _vacant_ despite number of vendors lining the streets. On the one hand, it appeared to be a city of fairly respectable size, and old as well. That most of the buildings were made of stone was a sign of many earth mages invested in its construction, although the unsightly brickwork undermined that possibility. And the sheer number of vendors and products available implied this to be a major hub of commerce.

Yet, besides the occasional passerby, the streets were empty. She couldn't have seen more than a dozen pedestrians since arriving, yet the vendors seemed unconcerned by the lack of foot traffic. Many were even loudly touting their wares despite the obvious lack of customers.

Perhaps strangest of all, however, was the music.

She had payed it little mind when she had first arrived in the plaza, but a few minutes of wandering the streets had led to a discomforting realization that the music _didn't seem to be coming from anywhere in particular_. On top of everything else, was there music playing _inside her head?!_

The longer she investigated, the more perplexing the situation became. Shaking her head in frustration, Louise was forced to concede the futility of her actions. Wandering aimlessly obviously wasn't going to solve anything. It was about time she confronted the locals for answers. Selecting a vendor at random, a portly man selling cheap-looking smallswords, Louise but on her best noble face and approached.

"Excuse me," she addressed the vendor, drawing his attention. A jolly grin spread across the man's face as he raised a meaty arm in greeting.

"Afternoon, lass! Can I help ya?"

"Yes," she responded, ignoring for now the informal tone he used despite addressing a noble. "I seem to have lost my way. Would you care to tell me where I am?"

"Certainly, miss. You're on 2nd Street, in the 1st District. The Central Plaza is that way." The man pointed.

Something about that answer made Louise bristle slightly in annoyance. "I see," she said. "and would you mind telling me the name of this city?"

"Of course, miss," the man nodded. "This is the «City of Beginnings», grandest city in all of Aincrad."

Louise furrowed her brow at that answer. Some of the man's words were coming out weird, like her brain was trying to register them under two different meanings simultaneously. Briefly she was reminded of the strange runes on the monument, before her mind returned to more immediate concerns. What was Aincrad? She had never heard of a country like that. Was it somewhere beyond the Elven lands?

"Where is that in relation to Tristain?" she asked.

The man gave her a perplexed look, so she restated.

"Where is Aincrad?"

"What, you don't even know that much?" The man asked, chuckling jovially. Though it felt to be in good cheer, Louise couldn't help but feel indignant at that. "Aincrad is the great floating steel castle of the sky! There's nothing in the lands below. All you need to know of where Aincrad is, is 'up.'"

Louise gaped at that. A floating steel castle? It was possible he actually meant somewhere on Albion, but from what he said Louise was inclined to believe this man was describing an actual free-floating castle! Louise had never heard of such a thing! And what did he mean 'nothing in the lands below,'? Were they above the Sahara? In the middle of Elven lands? Certainly, if any human settlement could hope to survived in elf territory, the skies seemed like the safest place to be.

Her mind still reeling from the implications, Louise tacitly thanked the boisterous vendor and left at a walking pace back down the street.

If the man was to be believed, she was currently in a city, an old city, situated in a floating steel fortress in the sky, possibly above the Sahara, by her conjectures. It was not a totally outlandish concept; airships could fly with sufficient windstones, and Albion was an entire island country held aloft by naturally-formed windstones.

But to lift an entire castle into the sky — a man-made construct implied to house not one but multiple cities — the amount of windstones needed to achieve that would be insane! Not to mention the cost to replace exhausted windstones, or the level of engineering that would be involved in designing an entire castle to sit upright in mid-air.

Still, if that was true, and they really were stranded above elf territory... well, she supposed it made sense that so many vendors were selling armaments. Though it may be little help were an elf to truly attack, it was only logical that everyone from the highest noble to the lowliest of commoners would want to be armed at all times.

In her contemplation, Louise almost didn't notice the figures before her until she had nearly walked into one of them. Startled, she retreated a step and almost stammered out an apology on impulse. They were just commoners, though, as no noble would be caught lugging around such huge swords or axes as they were, so it was not her place to apologize.

"Watch where you're going, plebeians!" she snapped at them. It came out rather harsh, though in her ears it was more a light warning. To their credit, they didn't flinch much, though they seemed a little taken aback. The looks of surprised vanished soon enough however, replaced by sneers Louise would rather expect on a nobleman.

"Oy, is that any way to talk to a clearer?" The lead man spoke in a disdainful tone.

Louise gaped.

"Clearer?" she repeated the unfamiliar word.

"What, can't you tell?" The man said, raising his chin in a show of true noble arrogance. "We are members of the glorious Aincrad Liberation Corps! We go out and face certain death on the front lines every day, all for the sake of freeing noobs like you!" The man pointed at her accusingly, making her flinch. She was just too shocked at the man's words to be indignant at the moment. "Show some respect!"

Aincrad Liberation Corps? Front lines? Noobs? What were they talking about? He spoke like these Liberation Corps afforded him some degree of respect, but from the sound of it isn't that just a military division? Does he really believe he has the right to speak to a noble like that?

Affronted, Louise opened her mouth to retort, but the man continued, not allowing her a word in edgewise.

"Well, I suppose its only natural to be on edge, after the unprecedented tragedy of the 25th Floor. I'll tell you what, little girl. We'll forgive your disrespect in exchange for a donation to the ALC Regrouping Effort."

Louise stood dumbstruck again. "What?"

"Come now, don't be stingy! What is a low-level player like you need much Col for anyways?"

"I don't have any coal!" She was just starting to make sense of things, and now _this_ comes along and starts spouting nonsense all over again?!

"Oh? I was told that the mutual aid guild «MMO Today» ensured that all lower-level players were allocated necessary resources equally?"

"This isn't even my country!" She stopped trying to make sense of the man's nonsense and shouted in pure frustration.

"No, every resident of Aincrad has a responsibility to the liberation effort. If you noobs won't fight, you should at least pay to support the clearers who fight for you!"

"I don't have any money!" It was true, her outfit had no pockets and she had not noticed so much as a pouch on her being.

"No? But, you _do_ have at least some merchantable equipment on you..." A malicious smirk spread across the man's, sending a chill down Louise's spine before she even processed the meaning behind his words. She looked down at herself. And her clothes. He couldn't possibly mean...

"Wha—! You wouldn't—!—dare—!?" She jerked violently, instinctively crossing her arms over herself protectively.

"Don't be selfish!" The man snarled, taking a step closer. His silent companions followed suit, not even hiding their lecherous smirks. "You insult the clearers and cause, and refuse to donate! It's not like we're asking you to 'accompany' us. Now be good and—"

_—Ahem—_

He was interrupted by the very deliberate sound of a cough from behind. All eyes turned to the hooded figure that had appeared at some point not far behind the clearers. No one said anything at first, but the three clearers suddenly tensed up when they saw what the figure held in their hand.

A teal-coloured diamond sat (floated) upon their open palm, bobbing ever-so slightly mid-hover in a way that Louise felt was much more natural than those bizarre green and yellow crystals. A tiny red light glowed near the tip of the crystal, barely visible against the brighter white light that shone from within its glassy core.

"A Record Crystal?" One of the man's subordinates gasped.

"H-how long..."

"Long enougH," the figure replied in a nasally voice, smiling slightly under the hood's shadow.

The group stood gaping at the newcomer for a while longer, before wordlessly slipping past Louise and vanishing down the street. Once more, Louise was left dumbfounded as she tried and failed to comprehend what just happened.

"What."

The figure let out a slight chuckle, deactivating the crystal and tucking it away under their cloak. "You're welcome, by the waY."

"Wh—" finally snapping out of her stupor, Louise assumed an imperious pose. "Who are you?" She demanded, pointing at them.

"Me?" The figure tilted their head, vaguely amused by the girl's reaction. Casually, they pulled the hood down, revealing a head of short auburn hair and a face painted with whisker-like dashes.

"Argo the Rat, at your serviCe."

* * *

A.N. Not satisfied with this, but I've gotta start somewhere.

My dialogue needs work.

SO. The story begins. Louise is lost in a new world, has the obligatory run-in with unpleasant elements right off the bat, and possibly meets her first ally. Argo's presence is somewhat of a contrived coincidence of narrative causality, but Louise requires exposition, and a story without Argo is hardly worth reading anyways~ -shameless Argo fan- =w=*

Regarding length, I think I sort of implied it before but I'll say it clearly now; I intend for this to be a very ambitious project (perhaps a bit much for my first fiction). The journey through Aincrad alone will make up only "book 1" so to speak, and it is my intention to follow Louise through her _entire_ Sword Art Online journey. For reference, those who know the SAO timeline should know that by the date given under the chapter title, the frontlines should be around the _28th floor_ at present.

Regarding update frequency, I'm sorry to say that I will not be making any promises. This is my first fiction after all, and I'm just not confident I'll be able to keep a schedule, especially with IRL circumstances being kinda unpredictable right now. I'll try to write and update as frequently as possible, but remember that this is a solo project done in my own free time.


	3. Ch2 - Tutorial

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«Chapter 2 — Tutorial»

«Aincrad 1st Floor, May 2023»

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* * *

Argo the Rat.

The first word that came to Louise's mind when she heard that name would have to be... sleazy.

In a way, the epithet resembled a runic name in form, but no noble would be caught dead with a title like 'rat'. Yet the girl before her introduced herself as such without shame or hesitation, bearing a smirk that held every bit as much confidence as the arrogant soldiers she had just run off. But where their expressions oozed self-entitled arrogance, hers glowed with plucky self-assurance.

"Argo... the Rat..." Louise repeated slowly, pondering the significance of that name. The girl was certainly no noble, but her posture and name clearly held esteem that not any no-name plebian could have.

"That's me, Aincrad's number-one information brokeR," the so-called Rat grinned. "Tisn't any exaggeration either, my name itself is an unspoken guaranteE."

"Information broker?" Louise echoed. She was... not familiar with that term. But she could well enough assume it to mean that this girl had information, and Louise needed information.

"Then, I have some questions for you," she declared.

"Oh?" Argo said, expression bemused as she tucked her arms behind her back. "The answers may cost you, but ask awaY." As expected, the Rat didn't cow at all under Louise's imperious tone, which disappointed her somewhat. This was one of the few times Louise could actually look down at someone, standing taller than the girl by a good 15cm.

"First of all," Louise began, but hesitated lamely as she struggled to find the right words. "What... what just happened?"

"Hmm?" The Rat tilted her head again, curious. "Couldn't you telL? I recorded your conversatioN." Argo shifted slightly as she reached for a pocket, before revealing the teal diamond she had had in hand earlier. "I figured those guys wouldn't want anyone hearing about them harassing girlS. They did the smart thing and left quietlY."

Louise frowned at that explanation. "Recorded?"

Smiling knowingly, the Rat lifted her thumb to the crystal and—

_"—rgive your disrespect in exchange for a donation to the ALC Regrouping Effort."_

_"What?"_

_"Come now, don't be stingy! What is a low-level player like you need much Col for anyways?"_

"What!?" Louise almost jumped when she heard a familiar conversation begin to repeat itself from the crystal in the girl's hand.

"Oy oy, calm down, tis just a Record CrystaL," the Rat assured her, ending the dialogue with another push of her thumb. "They're available in most shops after the 10th flooR. Ah, I'll let you have that info freE"

"..." Louise was at a loss for words. This girl... this _commoner_ had just shown Louise an incredible magical item, and spoke of it as if it were _mundane!_

"I see." Louise said at last, frowning. She didn't, actually, but it was a matter for another time. She had more pressing concerns at the moment.

"Then, next... where are we?"

"2nd Street, 1st DistricT. Central Plaza is that waY." The Rat pointed, not missing a beat. Louise felt a twinge of irritation return at that answer. She walked right into that one.

"Yes, yes. In the City of Begginings, in the castle of Aincrad, right?" Louise scowled. The information broker gave her a strange look, but Louise didn't notice. "Have you ever heard of Tristain?"

"Um... nO?" The Rat replied carefuly.

"Then, what is the nearest country or territory to Aincrad? Human or otherwise?"

The Rat frowned. "If... you're asking me about the game lore, then I'm afraid I can't tell you mucH. Tis a pretty bland settinG," she replied after a moment's hesitation. "Sandboxishh, eveN."

That stopped Louise's line of questioning in her tracks. Game lore? Setting? _Sandboxish_? Was this girl just making a fool out of her? Was _everyone_ making a fool out of her?

"Don't... don't talk nonsense with me!" She shouted, abruptly. The Rat flinched, giving Louise only the slightest hint of satisfaction. "I'm not playing games, _commoner_. I am Louise Francois le Blanc de la Valliere and I DEMAND an explanation! Start making sense NOW."

The girl was silent, at first, but Louise was not ignored a series of expressions ran across her face. A raised eyebrow, then a furrowed brow, followed by a look of surprise and finally one of slight concern. For a moment, Louise thought that the girl had finally realized who the bigger fish in this conversation was.

"Neh..." she finally spoke, "that's a pretty long naMe. Longer than the game even allows, I thinK. Is that your... er.. real naMe? Or..."

Louise glared. "Of course it is, I am the youngest daughter of the Valliere family."

"Right, right, of courSe," the Rat nodded quickly, a bit too quickly perhaps, she was speaking cautiously. "Say, just out of curiosity, do any of these words mean anything to yoU? SAO — Sword Art Online — Argus — NerveGear — Virtual Reality — Kayaba Akihiko — "

* * *

The girl's expression told her everything she needed to know.

Argo had been confused, at first. It only occured to her that the girl may be roleplaying when she declared her name. No sooner had she thought of it, however, did it occur to Argo that didn't quite make sense either. Only then did a creeping sense of foreboding begin to set in as it dawned on her. How could anyone not know the most basic of common knowledge about the very death game they were imprisoned to?

Maybe they didn't want to know?

It was an ugly possibility, but not one she could ignore. The news of their situation had hit everyone hard, and different people responded in different ways. Many chose to lock themselves up and wait to be rescued. Many others chose to fight.

Some, however, could not handle the despair, and chose less pleasant options. Some chose death over suffering. Others, for the first few weeks, denial. Even six months later, some _still_ took refuge in denial, because accepting the situation meant accepting that they were trapped, with a gun at their heads, by a game.

Argo herself had had trouble accepting the situation. At first, she had denied it, the rational part of her mind insisting how impossible the things that man had said were. When that failed to reassure her, she invested in her character, hiding her doubts and fears behind the persona of Argo the Rat. She still was, to an extent, though she had had months now to come to terms with the situation as the world finally began to settle into routine.

For some, however, that wasn't enough. To accept that death was real — that help wasn't coming — they could not. Desperate players continued to deny reality, believing that it was all a game, that they could lose and wake up whenever they want.

But what if even that was too much? Six long months of continuous gameplay, and not a single dead player had revived — could they really believe death wasn't real in those circumstances?

Then, what if death was never _not_ real? What if nothing was ever fake at all?

'I really am a knight. I really am a thief. I really am a smith. I have a name, and a personality, and a backstory, and that's all I've ever had.' If someone was so desperate, so afraid and overwhelmed, that even 'death won't kill us' wouldn't be enough, could they believe such a thing?

"Alright, theN... Louise." Argo smiled, trying to appear as friendly as she could, though her brows betrayed her unease. "I... think I understand the probleM."

"It's perfectly clear what the problem is." the girl replied. "Everyone here is mad! This whole place is mad! I don't know where I am or how I got here or what in the FOUNDER'S NAME anyone is talking about! I've had enough!"

"I seE," Argo said, nodding. "So you don't remember how you got heRe?" So there's gaps in her backstory. Good. That'll make it easier to draw her out of her delusions later. Maybe. Or should she not do that? Argo was good at reading people, but she was no psychologist. In any case, for now she should focus on calming the girl down before she snaps entirely.

"If it's amnesia, then that's pretty seriouS. Aincrad isn't the kind of place that's merciful to the uninformeD. Tis why people like me are needed in the first plaCe."

"S-so it seems..." the girl replied hesitantly, her tone losing a bit of the edge it had ealrier.

"For now, we should find some place to talK. We don't want any more of those ALC goons interrupting while we get you up to speeD." The Rat turned, waving for Louise to follow as she began to make her way to one of the side streets.

Louise was leery at first, but Argo was her first lead to making sense of this nonsensical place. Quickly so as not to fall behind, she followed.

* * *

"Well, first thing's firsT," Argo began, once they were seated in an empty, out-of-the-way cafe lining one of the city's side streets. "Tell me what you _do_ knoW."

Louise sat quietly for a moment, gazing critically at the girl before her. Slowly, cautiously, she began.

"... My name is Louise de la Valliere." She started. "I am the third daughter and youngest scion to the Duche de la Valliere of Tristain. Last I can recall, I am a student at the Tristain Academy of Magic."

Argo listened quietly, respectfully, watching Louise with a neutral look as she spoke. It reminded Louise of a meeting she had had with Headmaster Osmand, once, on one of the rare occassions he was serious. Attentive, proffessional, unjudging.

"As I understand it, I am currently in a town called the City of Begginings, in a floating castle known as Aincrad, correct?"

The Rat nodded. "Tis correcT."

"When I inquired, a local merchant told me that 'there is nothing in the lands below.' I assume that to mean we are somewhere above elven territory?"

Argo frowned at that. "Wait, whaT?"

"The Sahara? We're above the desert, right?"

Argo stared at Louise quizzically for a moment. "Umm... when they say that there's nothing below, I think they probably mean that there's no civilization anywhere but heRe," she said.

Louise worried at that reply, it meant that she may be farther from home than she previously suspected. But then, "So, that means we're not above elven territory?"

"Well, nO," Argo said, scratching her head awkwardly, as if she was answering a particularly tricky exam question. "Aincrad isn't strictly 'human territory', thougH. Elves can be encountered here and there, particularly around the 10th flooR.

Louise went rigid, face paling at the Rat's answer. "W-wait... there are _elves_ here? _INSIDE_ the castle walls?"

"Well, yeaH. They're not all that tough, thougH. Level 17 Mobs, at worsT. The NPCs sure are annoying though, always acting high-and-mightY."

Once again that day, Louise was left dumbstruck at what she was hearing. ELVES. _INSIDE_ the castle. And this girl spoke of them like they were _NO BIG DEAL_.

Argo seemed to take Louise's silence as her cue to speak. Clearing her throat, she began her lecture.

"Well then, Louise. That's... not a lot to go oN. I suppose... I'll have to start from the beginning, I suppoSe?" Scratching her head again, Argo's eyes began to drift away awkwardly as her thoughts slowly worked themselves into words. "It'd probably be easier to speak in analogies, but I think it'd be better in the long run if I lay it on you blunt and honestly noW."

"... get on with it," Louise grumbled, tone somewhere between resigned and bitter. Whatever it was, no matter how mad or nonsensical, it couldn't be any crazier than everything else she had heard today.

"This world is an illusioN."

Founder damn it.

...

No, wait, that might explain some things, maybe, somehow.

Anyways, it warranted elaboration. "What do you mean?" Louise asked, narrowing her eyes at the Rat. The information broker's face continued to display that look of honest difficulty.

"I mean... ngh..." she struggled to put it in words. "Tis like a dream, but... not exactlY. This world is an image planted in your head by the NerveGeaR. Your thoughts are real, and my thoughts are real, but what we see and hear and do are noT."

Louise stared.

"... the NerveGear is an electronic device that intercepts signals from your brain to your body, and uses them to control a virtual — illusionary — bodY. The NerveGear... 'imagines' an illusionary space that the avatar — false body — occupies, moves around and interacts in according to the brain's signalS. It plants that image in your head, making your brain think it's controlling a real body, but tis actually just interacting with an imaGe."

"... what."

"Basically, the NerveGear stops your brain from controlling your bodY. Then feeds it false sensory information, then reads it reactions to figure out what to show it nexT. By doing that really fast and consistently, it fools your brain into believing what the NerveGear shows iT."

"... so you're telling me..." Louise slowly responded. "... that I'm under the effects of a _mind-reading illusion spell?_"

"Er... well... tis not a spell, exactly, but... yeaH. Something like thaT."

"... I don't believe you."

"Of courSe." Argo deflates.

"Prove it."

"well..." Suddenly, Argo's face lit up with inspiration. "Your hanD," she said.

"What?"

"Your hanD," she repeated. "Take a good, long look at your hanD."

Louise scowled, but complied, raising her right hand to examine it. "I don't see what—" her grumbling stopped short as she noticed, for the first time, something vaguely _wrong_ about that hand.

She could see her fingers. And her knuckles. And even her tendons, where they were prominent. But the skin was smooth. Far, far too smooth. Louise knew that even the smoothest and most beautiful of skin was still textured with tiny, nearly inperceptable hairs and spots and ridges. Yet her hand was perfectly, unnaturally smooth. No hairs; no irregular, organic texture; not even the greyish traces of veins under the skin. Turning it over, she found that even the fingerprints were missing.

"Tis a virtual bodY," Argo spoke up, when it seemed that Louise had noticed the issue. "Tis realistic, but not perfectly sO."

"I... see..." Louise said, finally lowering the hand. She still couldn't quite grasp the situation, but she was a little more willing to accept the 'it's an illusion' explanation after seeing her own body. "So I'm in an illusion. What does this mean? And who are you?"

Now looking her in the eyes, Argo continued her explanation, a little more composed this time. "Like I said before, I'm a real person like you, also trapped in this illusionary world. This world is... _was_... _meant to be_ ... a gaMe."

Eyebrows raised. "A game?" Louise asks, incredulously.

"A virtual reality gaMe. Think about it; what if you be do anything you want — _be_ anything you want — in a completely new world, and go home to your normal life unchanged when your doNe?" Argo smiled slightly as Louise's eyes widened at the thought. "Tis what this world, Sword Art Online iS. Or, tis what it was supposed to bE."

"What do you mean?"

"We're trappeD." Argo said, smile vanishing. "Shortly after the game began, the game's creator revealed that he'd rigged the NerveGear to kill us if we tried to leaVe. People outside couldn't interfere, and if we died in the game we would be killed for reaL. The only way out is to win the gaMe." She scowled. "He turned it into a deathgaMe."

"..." Louise couldn't respond at first. She was trying to absorb the new information, but she wasn't quite feeling the full impact of the situation with her memories as they were.

"But then... does any of this explain what happened to my memories. I certainly don't recall hearing about this game, or this... 'NerveGear'."

"Aahh... well..." Argo's once again averts her eyes awkwardly, anwering cautiously. "I can't really say for suRe... but... I suspect, maybe tis something to do with trauma, possiblY.

"Trauma?"

"Tis a really scary situation, especially for young civilians like uS." Louise opened her mouth to protest, but Argo wasn't finished. "One minute, we're all excited about the new game we've been waiting months foR. Next thing we know, we're trapped, we can't contact our families, and we're forced to fight monsters that really can kill us now, all by a game that was supposed to be harmless fuN. On top of all that, after five months you can't help but worry what's happening to our real bodieS. Odds are, we're all lying comatose in hospital beds, slowly withering awaY. A lot of people... just can't handle iT."

"Are you suggesting," Louise growled, "that I lost my memories because I was _scared?_"

"_I'm saying_ that stress can do bad things to the minD." Argo replied, keeping her tone as clinical as possible. "The human mind has been known to block, edit, or even fabricate memories if necessary to protect itselF."

Louise huffed indignantly. "I'm still not sure I can believe you. How do you know _your_ memories aren't wrong?"

"Because there are over 7000 people here who confirm my story." Argo sighed. "Look, Louise, I'm not sure exactly what happened to you, but I do know that in order to survive in this world, you're going to need to understand the basics of the situatioN. And if... _when_ we clear the game and return to the real world, you should be prepared to find things may not be quite as you expected them to be outsiDe. AlrighT?"

Louise sat silently, considering Argo's words. It was pretty outlandish, this 'information broker's claims, and she wasn't sure she could quite accept it as the truth. But she could see with her own eyes that there was indeed something very _different_ about this world. Argo said it was a game. Louise wasn't sure she could believe that.

But Louise was alone. She had no magic, no money, no allies, no grasp of the circumstances. In this incomprehensible situation, her own knowledge was clearly not enough. She needed help, and to get that she needed to understand the situation as the majority saw it, even if she herself couldn't believe it. Even if it was the wrong system, as long as she could learn it, she could use it.

"Alright," she said at last. "Teach me."

* * *

A.N. Sorry this took so long. There were people. And stuff. And Dangan Ronpa. I was busy. :I

In my defense, this conversation is probably the single most difficult and unpredictable events in the entire story, with the possible exception of the beginning of Book 2. Because, you know, Nihilo ex Machina. Does weird stuff to the story, man. Takes a while to get characters up to speed.

Quick note on Argo's speech patterns. In the baka-tsuki translations, the last letters of her sentences are captialized. In the original text, apparently, Argo stresses the final syllable of each sentence. I asked my dad about it, and confirmed that it doesn't represent any kind of accent or quirky Japanese speaking styles (as far as he knows). The only thing he could describe it as is "sounds really annoying." I tried to preserve the quirk by doubling up the last syllable Argo utters each sentence, but that wasn't working, so I'm now borrowing baka-tsuki's capitalizing trick. Yes, it's very annoying. Yes, it may be deliberate on Argo's part.

She was also translated as speaking with "tis" in one of the sidestories. I rather clumsily threw it in in a few places to replace "it is" or occassionally "that is", but otherwise don't properly make use of whatever speaking mannerism it's actually supposed to represent. My ultimate impression of Argo's speaking habits are «pointless and annoying quirks that just bug people and make talking to her a little onerous».

Again, I'm not happy with this, but since it's my first fic it's probably impossible to get the writing as good as I'd like until I build up some experience. Though it sounds like a bit of an excuse, I'll declare right now my intent to rewrite this whole story later on once my writing skill improves.

Anyways, hopefully the next update will come sooner than this one.

EDIT: sorry for the screw-up with the italics, I forget sometimes that HTML tags don't work here.


	4. Rewrite Notice

A.N. Apologies. This may be a bit early to declare a rewrite, but I'm doing it anyways. Best get it out of the way now, than let the issue fester, right?

I just got back from a trip in which I had no internet access for a week, leaving me to read and edit whatever files I already had with me for the duration. I reread this story, and found that I couldn't even read it beyond the point where Louise first appears in Aincrad.

The ceremony scene looks natural enough to me, at my level, but everything after that breaks down fast. I think that that's the point where I took a break, and when I came back the words were no longer flowing, I was just pushing to complete the scene. The story in my head is interesting, but the words on paper are not. If the words don't even interest me, the author, who is thoroughly invested in the story, then I doubt they can truly interest the readers.

I'm currently going on a reading binge through various writing articles, but I'm not sure how much it'll help. Anyone who has tips for beginning writers, please share. I could especially use advice on writing natural prose, dialogues, and paragraphs. Often I feel like half the stuff I write was forced onto paper to fill out the page. Pointing out especially bad passages in what I've posted would also be appreciated.

Anyways, I'll do my best to rewrite what's already posted in a timely fashion and get chapter 3 up soon after. I should probably start looking for a more reliable beta than 'that friend who lets me talk at him' though...


End file.
